Take Note

Fax attack

Facts galore in school is one thing. Fax galore is something
else.

The latter is what employees of the Cape Girardeau, Mo., school
district found spewing from their fax machines for several days in
August. In some cases, the design-filled faxes used up so much paper or
ink the machines receiving them shut down.

Employees didn't know what to make of the runaway equipment until
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. traced the calls to the home of Richard
L. Bollwerk, an outgoing associate superintendent for the 4,500-student
district.

Mr. Bollwerk, 49, has been charged with misdemeanor harassment and
property damage and was due to appear in court last week, said Morley
Swingle, the prosecuting attorney for Cape Girardeau County.

Court documents say the faxes were intended to harass Superintendent
Danny Tallent. The property-damage charge refers to the ruined paper
and ink.

Mr. Bollwerk, who announced his resignation in July but was to be on
the district payroll until Sept. 30, served as acting superintendent
from December 1995 to January 1996. He was replaced by Mr. Tallent.
Both men had been interviewed for the superintendent's job.

Mr. Bollwerk could face up to 18 months in county jail and a $1,500
fine.

Mr. Tallent refused to comment last week, and Mr. Bollwerk could not
be reached.

Stud problems

A principal has chosen to resign rather than support the Arlington,
Vt., school board's decision to allow a soccer coach to keep her
pierced tongue stud.

Kerry Csizmesia, the principal of Arlington Memorial High School,
resigned last month over what he called a double standard in dress
codes for faculty members and students.

The Arlington school board originally told Mr. Csizmesia to have
soccer coach Amy Pickering, a part-time, temporary employee, remove her
tongue stud. But it later reversed the decision, citing legal opinions
that it did not have the authority to enforce a dress code for adults
that was intended for students.

Mr. Csizmesia resigned after he told the board that he refused to
enforce one dress code for students but a less stringent one for
teachers.

School officials say Ms. Pickering is still employed at the school
and has not removed the tongue stud. Neither Mr. Csizmesia nor Ms.
Pickering was available for comment.